School Printing Programs: What to Order and When to Stay On Schedule

Running a school screen printing program comes with a unique mix of rewards and head-shaking logistics. Between long district purchase order timelines, strict environmental safety codes, and fresh groups of students learning screen printing every semester, keeping a school shop stocked takes real planning. If you wait until classes start to order your screen printing supplies, you will find yourself stuck waiting on bookkeeper approvals while students sit on their hands.

To help you structure your academic year, we sat down with Randy Maves, a CTE Printmaking, Photography, and Graphic Design Teacher at McDaniel High School. With 37 years of teaching under his belt, Randy has built a battle-tested schedule for managing budgets, choosing classroom-safe chemistry, and keeping shop supplies ready long before students step up to the press.

Navigating the Academic Purchasing Cycle

School purchase orders move at their own pace. If you try to order emulsion the week you plan to coat screens, district paperwork will leave your lab stranded. Successful school printing programs rely on understanding your specific district's funding rules and stocking essential consumables well ahead of time.

Understanding Your Program Funding Cycles

How and when you buy completely depends on your district's summer ordering rules and how department funds get dispensed. Every school system handles money differently, but most print labs draw from two distinct funding setups.

• Traditional Fine Art & General Budgets: General department funds often require tight planning. In a traditional department, you may need to hold onto prior school year funds to submit purchase plans late in the spring for the coming year. If you wait until fall to buy supplies, your school bookkeeper may not have time to process your orders before classes start. Many teachers buy supplies for their first three units in the spring, then wait for student body funds to replenish in the fall to finish purchasing for the year.
• CTE Pathway Grants: Career and Technical Education programs often give you more flexibility with multiple funding cycles throughout the year. For example, a primary Pathways fund with fewer restrictions may open in early January, allowing you to buy fall supplies well ahead of time. Secondary CTE consumable buckets can land in early October, followed by mid-winter allocations and spring proposal-based grant cycles.

"In the first 25 years of my career, I needed to keep funds from the prior school year so I could submit purchase plans late spring for the coming school year. If I waited until fall to attempt to buy supplies, the bookkeeper would not have time to make my purchases. The hope was that I could buy the first three units of supplies for my printmaking classes, and then the student body funds would be replenished and I could complete my purchases for the year. The last 12 years my program has been CTE, and that has allowed me to have three different funding cycles throughout the year." — Randy Maves

The Golden Rule of Supply Timing

Randy's golden rule after 37 years in the classroom is simple: make sure your materials sit safely on classroom shelves weeks before a new unit begins. There is nothing worse than hunting down a missing supply days before class starts. When your screen printing supplies arrive early, you spend your energy teaching best practices and developing strong shop systems instead of stressing over tracking numbers.

"What I believe to be true over my 37 years of teaching art, make sure your purchasing happens so that when you start the unit you have the supplies on the shelf weeks before you start that unit. There is nothing worse than trying to figure out where you can get that one supply a few days from beginning instead of focusing on best practices and developing strong systems for running that unit." — Randy Maves

Smart Ways to Spend Remaining Grant Money

When end-of-year grant money or leftover pathway funds become available, do not guess on specialty items. Stockpile baseline consumables that your shop relies on every day. Keeping 3 to 4 extra gallons of screen printing emulsion on hand gives your program the flexibility to try new techniques or buy specialty supplies later without stressing your budget. End-of-year funds are also great for replacing worn equipment, like old 12-inch squeegees or nicked scoop coaters.

"My go to for any remaining funds is to stockpile those supplies that are base to your program. An example for my program would be screens and emulsion. Whenever I can I attempt to have 3 to 4 gallons of emulsion on hand, that allows me to have flexibility to buy more specialty items or try something new." — Randy Maves

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Classroom Safety and Chemistry Considerations

District risk management departments care deeply about chemical safety, odor control, and runoff waste. Building sustainable school printing programs requires chemistry that protects student health while standing up to high classroom volume.

Odor-Free and Low-VOC Workflows

Traditional solvent-heavy cleaners do not belong in a school environment. Switching to eco-friendly chemical lines, like Easiway or Sgreen, matches strict district risk rules while keeping classroom air clean. The lack of harsh odors and gassing allows students of all skill levels to handle screen setup and teardown safely and comfortably.

"I am all in on Easiway! It matches our district's risk rules. The lack of odors and gassing were a huge selling point for me." — Randy Maves

The Dip Tank Advantage

If your shop still relies on spray bottles for reclaiming, adding a dedicated dip tank will completely transform your workflow. A setup like a Dunk Tank paired with Easiway Dip Tank Solution keeps chemicals out of spray bottles, speeds up screen reclaiming, and reduces chemical waste.

A single 5-gallon container of concentrated chemical mixed with water in a dip tank can process screens for up to three months in an active high school program. This approach cuts chemical costs, speeds up screen turnaround, and keeps student work clothing clean.

"I think adding a dip tank for emulsion removal is critical. That keeps one chemical out of a spray bottle. Also, it speeds up the screen reclaiming. Our screen printing department probably reclaims more screens than an average high school and we are getting 3 months out of a five gallon container that is mixed with water to fill the tank. Game changer for us!" — Randy Maves

Pro Tips for Daily Classroom Management

Beyond ordering on time, running a seamless school lab comes down to clear classroom systems. Here are four quick strategies Randy uses to keep students organized, accountable, and focused on learning.

• Standardize Mesh Counts: Simplify screen inventory by sticking mostly to 110 and 160 mesh aluminum frames. Limiting options keeps coating and exposure calculations straightforward for beginners while handling almost every classroom print run.
• Color-Code Squeegees & Coaters: Wrap colored tape around squeegee handles and scoop coaters to mark durometers and coat widths. Students immediately grab the right tool for the job and return it to its designated wall rack.
• Rotate Student Station Leads: Assign student shop managers each week to oversee key areas like the washout booth, ink station, and press cleanup. Giving students ownership keeps the lab clean and builds leadership skills.
• Enforce the Pellon Rule: Require students to print a clean test pellon and get instructor sign-off before touching blank garments. This simple rule saves shirt inventory, catches registration errors early, and builds student printing confidence.
  
  

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Season-by-Season Purchasing and Project Checklist

To keep school printing programs moving without inventory bottlenecks, Randy breaks his purchasing schedule into four distinct seasonal rounds. Here is how to structure your orders throughout the school year.

Summer Prep: Setting Up for Day One

Summer is your window to get the lab fully prepped before students arrive. Focus on core chemistry, screen reclaim, and platen maintenance so every press station is ready for action on opening day.

• Emulsion and Reclaiming Chemistry: Order 1 to 2 gallons of fresh photopolymer emulsion, a 5-gallon container of Easiway Concentrated Emulsion Remover, and a fresh Dual Edge Emulsion Scoop Coater.
• Platen Maintenance: Re-cover all platens using PrintGRIP High Tack Sheet for Platens to eliminate spray adhesives and guarantee smooth printing surfaces.
• Testing and Setup Supplies: Stock up on Premium Polyester White Test Pellons, Premium Polyester Black Test Pellon, a case of screen blockout tape, and fresh FN-INK plastisol ink stocks.

Fall Round: Consumables and Base Supplies

When the first CTE consumable funding bucket lands in early October, monitor your washout area and daily consumable usage to replenish high-use items.

• Cleaners and Reclaim: Stock 2 to 3 gallons of dehazer and degreaser, such as Sgreen Stuff Dehazer and Degreaser, to remove ghost images and prep mesh for new stencils.
• Testing Materials: Order test pellons in each color so students can practice registration, adjust off-contact, and check ink coverage before printing blank garments.
• Core Plastisol Inks: Replenish mixing white, standard white, and print base white from lines like FN-INK Plastisol Inks to sharpen print colors on dark garments.

Winter Round: New Tools and Inclusive Equipment

When mid-year grant disbursements or Pathways funds land with fewer purchasing restrictions, evaluate your classroom setup and experiment with tools that improve ergonomics and accessibility.

• Accessibility Tools: Add adaptive equipment like The Rudy Press Attachment to assist students with special needs in managing squeegee pressure and ink control comfortably.
• Pathway Funding Upgrades: Use secondary grant windows to test new printing technologies, experiment with specialty inks, upgrade flash dryers, or expand your manual press accessories.

Spring Round: Long-Term Upgrades and Reinvesting Student Work

As the academic year closes and the final, most restrictive CTE funding stream opens, use proposal-based grants for professional development or long-term lab updates.

• Screen Replacements: Audit your screen inventory. Retension or update worn frames with rigid aluminum screens that hold accurate tension term after term.
• Reinvesting In-House Shirt Sales: If your class prints internal jobs for school clubs, athletic teams, or school store merch, use those extra funds to self-fund daily consumable reorders like screen tape, ink, pellons, and cleaning chemicals.